opinions on coop location?

[joustinghill]

Hi,

I was wondering if I might solicit the opinions of the experts in locating my coop. I'm blessed with an abundance of options, so many that I can't decide which is best for placing the coop. I've never kept chickens before but I've become addicted to farm eggs so now I'm getting chickens.

I'm planning on between 6 and 8 birds with an outdoor run, in New Hampshire where it gets cold in the winter and there are plenty of predators.

Site A: dirt surface, excellent drainage, shade from oak tree half of the day, sun half of the day. Central location on the farm, can be easily seen from the windows of the house or from the barn, not near the edges of the woods, not near any other buildings.

Site B: predator-proof concrete surface (12x25 sloped concrete pad), sun until late afternoon, excellent drainage, adjacent to shed building.

Site C: grass surface, excellent drainage, dappled shade all day, no full sun. 15 feet from house.

If it were your birds, which location would you pick and why?

-Trish

 

[scooter147]

Site A. You state part sun/part shade. What time of the day is the sun? They need shade in the afternoon.

Site B. I would not want to place chickens on a concrete pad, I am assuming you mean their run.

 

[chickiebaby]

Not B. Either of the others.

 

[Wynette]

First and most importantly:

I would also pick site A. Can you wire electricity to it? That makes things so much easier in winter time if it's possible. Good luck!

 

[wyliefarms]

All sound good.

Sooo, what is the cheapest to make it happen?

Do you have a vegetable garden? If so I would reccomend to have it as far away as possible. chickens love cucumbers and tomatoes and melons in our garden. I fence the garden off at my place.

Good luck on your decision!

Sarah

 

[joustinghill]

Quote:
For site B, I was thinking to build an elevated enclosed roost, then the run would be on the concrete with shavings or something.

Site A is between two large oaks, one to the east and one to the west. So it gets shade in the morning, sun mid-day, then shade in the afternoon.

The biggest drawback to site A is getting electricity out there. I'd have to trench and run underground from the nearest building.

 

[patandchickens]

I'd say A sounds ideal, but if the electricity is a prohibitive problem then one of the others

B should be good as long as you truck in a good thick layer of sand or sand/gravel mix to put over top of the concrete in the run. C should work fine too (but you might want to put a windbreak on the upwind side, b/c if they are always in the shade they may be less inclined to hang out happily in the run as much as if they could be there in sunshine).

Have fun,

Pat

 

[scooter147]

Unless you plan on letting them free range most of the time I don't recommend a concrete run. It is too hard on their feet you will end up with bumble foot.

 

[joustinghill]

Quote:
Site B is the cheapest, because it's basically predator-proof already in that it can't be dug under. Site C is the next cheapest, because I don't have to run electricity to it. Site A is the most difficult.

No vegetable garden, just a couple of fruit trees. We're a horse farm, so the vast majority of the acreage is devoted to horse needs (paddocks, barn, pasture, manure handling, etc).

Thanks for the help!
Trish

 

[scooter147]

I didn't recommend Site C because of the proximity to the house, however, my aunts henhouse was probably only that far from her back door and she probably had over 50 laying hens.

Is there already a shed there?

You know raising horses any animal is as clean and smell free as you allow them to be. With only 6-8 hens oder should not be a problem.